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Film reviews

Passenger Review

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This film about an RV trip that finds itself in shambles has class. It has karma, symbolism, and eye-opening lines. At moments it is quirky, but chilling in the scares. Passenger soars. The momentum is gradual and audacious. The forest settings are surreal. The plot is promising. Best of all, it is not so predictable. There are hidden gems that spiral ferociously in Passengerwhile. demonic moments of evil linger.

The movie is directed by André Øvredal and written by Zachary Donohue and T.W. Burgess. These writers have backgrounds that began with short films. This one is Burgess’s first main feature. Their creative minds are determined to haunt viewers in Passenger. The RV plays a starring role in Passenger during a romantic getaway where nightmares abound, and the story takes compelling turns.

The film is about a couple, Tyler and Maddie (Jacob Scipio and Lou Llobell) who are on the road to an engagement. Tyler lives for his RV and Maddie goes along with it. Before their adventures the film introduces audiences to a scenario involvinga car accident. That spirit then follows Tyler and Maddie. The karma from those events continues to follow Tyler and Maddie. It is likely to make this RV excursion their last one.

There are moments of imagery in the film where Maddie feels like they’re being followed. Someone is painted to appear menacing, and he is. However, it takes time for Tyler to get caught up with this lingering component in their travels. The film transitions to focus on their relationship. I appreciated that part of the story because I feel relationships do not always have a strong focus in a film like this. Fortunately, their relationship is explored in various parts of Passenger.

There is a line that gets crossed frequently in the film. I felt the adventures they faced on the road trip stirred both horrid and good questions during the ride. There is no happy way out. There are lots of twists and turns, but the way they stick together makes it enjoyable yet not amazing. Three out of four stars for Passenger.

Film reviews

Crime 101 Review

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There are crimes with purpose and there are crimes that are connected. When moving parts come together, the truth can be complicated. Accuracy is what counts! From the mind of director Bart Layton, come his newest feature Crime 101. In this film, the conflict is a revolving landscape of purposeful doorswhich open to a ride that does not stop. With the setting in California, there are many truths to unfold and a conspiracy to piece together. Overall, the story is based upon how the characters approach the scenarios. The clock starts ticking thesecond the movie starts in Crime 101.

It is an all-star cast that is just above average when it comes to pacing and flow. The film begins with a slew of meditation and mindfulness and then jumps into blindsided crimes. The invigoration caused by the conspiracy and conflict in authority turns matters into a boxing match. Layton is not afraid to throw the complex conflicts on the table and keep the tables spinning with curiosity. When one event is still in motion, others continue to arise.

The main character is a master criminal, Davis (Chris Hemsworth). He flies below the radar and maintains the lowest profile to settle the biggest scores possible. Despite turmoil, he continues to do the deeds to get the pay. There is also a real estate broker named Sharon (Halle Berry). She is pushing herself to go above and beyond to make her clientele happy until she realizes the answers she gets are shady. In addition, there is a detective that is in a bind, Lou (Mark Ruffalo). The trail of Davis and the odds of Sharon are tied together. This causes a more stressful situation for Lou because he is completely burned out and consistently on thin ice.

The film maintains its angles through strategic timing. That is where the joy is. At times, it may feel like a bore, but it is effective. When another criminal comes around it becomes instantly bonkers. The other criminal is Ormon (Barry Keoghan), a motorcyclist eager to land heists to prove he is worthy. There is another heist in the making, but how dangerous is it for all these characters to be interconnected? The question of trust is what the Tetris tactic of surprises masters in Crime 101.

Do not expect explosions but instead more in-depth trails, especially through the performances of Hemsworth and Berry. Their characters have incredible stressors hovering over them. Their feelings of immense frustration, while they’re also trying to score big, lead to a landscape that is mentally compelling. Layton creates an interesting portrait in which his characters are dealing with so much. This part of their portrayal does not come around easily, yet I felt the film was successful in making the dynamics all make sense. This was possible because the persona of scoring is based upon hiding the criminal-side and being able to handle an array of unexpected conflicts that are life-threatening and enticing. A stellar crime with thrilling aspects that keep the central conflict intact. Three out of four stars for Crime 101.

Film reviews

Primate Review

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The thought of owning a monkey as a pet always seemeddangerous to me. Primate creates that situation and throws in moments of mayhem and horror. Directed by Johannes Roberts, this is one of those thrillers where a jungle is already part of a family’s life. However, when resources are not aligned, there is a combination of bad tests and non-thorough examinations. The monkey then jumps out of its cage with a vindictive vengeance. Think about a one-person Planet of the Apes film…only that ape wants to kill everyone. Primate is a portrait of a pet that will make audiences never want to own a chimpanzee.

The film’s main characters are Lucy (Johnny Sequoyah), Kate (Victoria Wyant), Hannah (Jessica Alexander), and Kate’s older brother Nick (Benjamin Cheng). They go to Lucy’s house in Hawaii for a vacation. Lucy’s sister is Erin (Gia Hunter) and her father is Adam (Troy Kotsur). Lucy’s father is hard of hearing and writes books about animal research. There is one special pet in the family, Ben (Miguel Torres Umba), a chimpanzee that is part of the family. As far as everyone knows he is trained to be loving. Yet, when Lucy’s father leaves on a business trip, Ben goes on a crazy rampage.

The film begins to become a brawl of safety concerns. Lucy, Kate, Hannah, and Nick must learn to protect themselves from Ben, because Ben’s anger continues to rapidly grow. In a big house in the Hawaiian mountains, it is hard to run, Ben’s mighty anger grows exponentially. With all the love and support that Ben has received for years, it creates a landscape of curiosity of wondering what might be making him become so vindictive. There is the talk of rabies, since Ben is a rabid monster, but uncertainty about whether that applies given the scenarios being experienced.

Primate is one of the most loud and rambunctious thrillers involving an ape I have seen in ages. It is not a perfect film, but it keeps audiences’ attention with the hot-headed aspects of chimpanzee behavior. It makes me want to avoid ever being near a chimpanzee ever. Overall, the creativity behind the film is vivid and attention-grabbing. At the same time, the storyline isextremely predictable. Fortunately, the writing is strong as are the scares. The brief glimpses into the sciences help create the suspense in Primate. Two-and-a-half out of four stars.